


How Can I Breathe When There’s No Air?

by Golden_Stripes



Category: Fables: The Wolf Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort/Angst, Drowning, but angst before the comfort, but not really, you’ll understand when you read it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:49:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28314081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Golden_Stripes/pseuds/Golden_Stripes
Summary: Bigby winds up drunk at The Trip Trap and tries to walk home.He didn’t expect being jumped.He didn’t expect to have cinderblocks at his feet.He didn’t expect having to worry about breathing again.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	How Can I Breathe When There’s No Air?

**Author's Note:**

> The info of Bigby says he can’t drown so I decided to do some angst for that.
> 
> I don’t know whether he can just hold his breath for forever or if he can keep going even with water in his lungs so I’m going with the former.
> 
> But damn if it doesn’t hurt though.

  
It happened in the blink of an eye.

Bigby was walking home while drunk one night and was knocked out by an unknown assailant. He could barely walk straight, let alone fight back and get away.

The next thing he knew was his legs being tied together and being dragged against wooden planks. 

He was at a pier.

With his legs tied together.

He opened his eyes wide and tried to do something, anything but he was already pushed over the edge.

And into the murky depths he went.

———————

He held his breath as he sunk further, trying to swim upwards but the cinder block at his feet was just too heavy. Water was pushing up into his nose and his ears popped from the pressure. The light from the surface was growing fainter with each passing second.

So further he went.

His lungs were starting to hurt.

———————

Bigby’s lungs was burning now.

He didn’t know how long he had sunk so far, only that it was much longer than he thought he would. He expected to hit the seabed much, much earlier. He didn’t expect the darkness to be so deep.

He wanted to breathe. To have oxygen in his lungs and not the carbon he was desperate to let out. He oh so wanted to let the air out. 

But he didn’t.

———————

His throat was starting to hurt now too, threatening him with a cough.

His eyes bugged out as seizures wracked his body as he forced his lungs to keep that air in them.

He couldn’t cough. He wouldn’t let himself. No matter how much it hurt.

He didn’t even notice when he stopped sinking.

———————

An hour had passed when he realised he was at the seabed and he was wondering if anyone would find him there.

Would they help him? Break the chains on his legs and bring him to the surface? Carry him to the pier or the shore and he could lie there just basking in his regained ability to  _breathe_? 

Or would they just watch him? Keep him helpless there and they would laugh and jeer at the Big Bad Wolf as he was chained to the bottom of the ocean, with no hope in sight?

Was this similar to how TJ found Faith? A cinderblock tied to her feet with no hope of having air in her lungs again?

He closed his eyes, useless in the pitch darkness, and waited. Waited for what he didn’t know.

And his lungs only burned even more.

———————

He was there for a day when he passed out for a second.

He felt his lungs give slightly before he he tensed his throat shut, not letting anymore air air leave him.

He felt precious bubbles drift up across his face.

———————

Bigby thought of when Woody filled his stomach with stones and casted him into the water.  
  
  


Of course it wasn’t exactly like that. He was in a human form now, with the weight being tied to his legs instead of threatening to burst seams sown with anger.

Back then those seams hurt more than anything and he couldn’t tell whether his lungs hurt then too.

Back then he had to rip the seams of his stomach open to swim up and breathe again.

But now with blind eyes and unbound arms, he looked to his legs.

———————

It was hours after he thought about tearing his legs off and he was less and less opposed as more time passed.

He felt the current around him be disturbed and he jolted so harshly when he felt something wrap around his arm.

It held on tighter and he thrashed around, trying to get rid of whatever had grabbed him, and it let go.

It was a moment later that he felt it grab his legs.

Bigby bent to slash at his antagonist but it dodged every swipe. As he kept attacking and his assailant kept evading, he bared his teeth.

It was only natural that he let out a growl.

Treasured air left his chest as he almost breathed in the water to inhale those fleeing bubbles.

He spasmed in his struggle to not breathe in. To not inhale water and not the air his body thought was around him. He shut his useless eyes and wrapped his arms around himself, momentarily forgetting what was grabbing at him a moment before.

When he could focus on more than his lungs, he felt the thing holding onto both of his upper arms. Albeit the grip on his left arm was smaller, thinner.

He also felt the water rushing around him at a fast rate. His legs dangled aimlessly, without any chains holding him down.

He didn’t want to be eaten. He also didn’t want to risk having water in his lungs.

———————

It was a while before his ears popped from the change in pressure. It wasn’t much longer before his previously blind eyes saw faint light above him.

He couldn’t make out the shape of what he hoped to be his saviour.

He moved his legs, helping whatever it was that was bringing him upwards in the water. Bringing him to that sweet air he was desperate for.

As they swam higher, the shape split into two, one smaller than the other. He kicked his legs as hard as he could, lungs almost shaking in their need for air.

He watched as the shapes became more clear but before he could make them out, they threw him out of he water. He hit the ground with a long and pain filled gasp and he choked in the air he wanted for whoever knew how long.

All his senses came back to him all at once and he couldn’t begin to sort them out. His overwhelmed mind decided to be thankful for his saviours and he sputtered out so, so many “thank you’s” between gulps of air.

Hands grabbed him and put him into a sitting position, then gently rubbed his back in circles.

He opened his eyes, his breathing lessening to heavy pants, seeing his saviours to be Toad and Tj. He looked behind him to see Snow. And they all looked so worried.

Surprisingly, Toad was the first to properly speak.

“Are...” he asked, hesitating, “are you... okay?”

And Bigby, still panting so hard, could only look at him and weakly shake his head.

Snow grabbed her phone and started calling people, saying that to call off the search because he was alive. He was at the pier with cinders on his legs but he’s alright now. He’s alright now. He’s safe now. They’re going to keep him company now. He’s not going to be alone.

On and on her reassurances went and after a while he realised her phone had been in her pocket for a while.

Tj, who was standing behind his father, ran forward and crashed onto Bigby’s chest for a hug. And Bigby wrapped his own arms around the young boy.

Neither of them knew whether they were hugging for themselves or each other. But with Snow still rubbing his back, Toad giving a sigh of relief when Tj didn’t worsen his now only slight panting, and Tj himself mumbling about how Bigby’s safe now, that he’s okay now...

Bigby was grateful and thankful for not only the air he could breathe again but for how even when he lost hope, that his friends would still be there searching for him.

And will always make sure he comes home safe.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you liked it please leave a comment, even if it’s just a keyboard smash ^v^
> 
> This is the first fic I’ve actually uploaded on Ao3 so I hope it looks alright.
> 
> If anyone has angst recommendations, I will gladly do my best to write them. I usually only write as a spur of the moment but I’ll gladly write recommendations when I can!


End file.
